Difficult Listening 12 - The Star-Spangled Banner

There seems to be an uproar about this song currently and I probably should but just can't stop myself from adding my thoughts to the din. As sympathetic as I am to the original motivation of the protest, it seems that message is being lost. I'm reminded again of the "Love it or leave it" mentality that poisoned so many attitudes in the '70s. If the football players really wanted to be offensive to the anthem they would stand proudly and drop their pants to their knees.

But not necessarily wanting to follow the lead of people who smack their heads together for a living, I'd like to propose an alternative solution. How about a simple restructuring of the anthem? How about a version that makes you happy? Ruben Guevara (of Ruben & The Jets) gave us this arrangement for the Bicentennial in 1976. I think this is the way it should have been played ever since.

As Ruben said, "I hope it will get the country to start dancing together in a close, tight style."